Troubled times and the written word

Dave Richey looks through book files for a certain book
photo courtesy Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

Folks, no one needs to tell us that these are troubled times.

Many jobs are in peril. Job security is questionable or even doubtful. Many folks are out of work, and homes have been foreclosed on and lost.

Management in some areas don’t worry about the worker. Insurance rates are rising, as are prescription drugs, and many wonder how long they can hang on to their job.

Amid all these worries is the desire to fish and hunt more, and spend time outdoors. The cost of travel has skyrocketed with $3.75-per-gallon (or more) gas, and fuel prices don't show any sign of going down soon. Jobs are leaving this state daily, and billions of dollars go overseas while our workers wonder about their future.

Sportsmen want to fish and hunt more. We find it difficult to justify a trip north for a two- or three-day fishing or hunting trip because we'll easily spend $150 or more for gas, another  $100-175 for a motel for one night, add another $75-100 for food, and suddenly the
price of fishing and hunting becomes very expensive.

A wealth of knowledge is just waiting for you to discover it

What can anglers and hunters do to take the edge off their outdoor cravings. It's simple, and much like my need for a fishing or hunting fix when as a kid. If a round-the-world trip cost only $10, I couldn't get out of Clio, my hometown.

Each year I managed to squirrel away money to pay for subscriptions to Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and Sports Afield magazines. I devoured every word, and then as my meager job paid a bit more money or I took a second job, I joined the now-defunct Outdoor Life Book Club. Once a month would come a notice about an upcoming book, and if I thought I'd like it, the book would be ordered.

Mind you, being entertained in your mind through the magic of the written word and a wonderful photograph isn't quite the same as actually fishing or hunting, but it provided an escape for those of us who couldn't shake loose $200 or more for a weekend fishing or hunting trip.

Books can provide that mental escape we need to visit another world, to a place where fish bite and where big bucks are abundant. It can take us to places where big browns sip flies off the surface, where grouse and woodcock inhabit tag alder runs and dogwood thickets, to places where rooster pheasants cackle in mid-air, and a wedge of bluebills skim the tops of white-flecked waves under a pewter-grey sky.

It was an inexpensive way to escape the humdrum of an era 55 years ago when the economy was shaky. Car sales were poor, and I lived in Clio, a bedroom community north of Flint. Most people worked for General Motors in Flint, and many people were out of work.

Books carried me along on a voyage of discovery, to a place where vicariously, we fished alongside Ernie Schwiebert, listened to the tales of Robert Ruark's Old Man talking to the boy. Now, because of books, we can learn about Louis Spray and the meanderings of his life, to the Green Hills of Africa with Ernest Hemingway, to the wonderfully written books of the incomparable George Bird Evans and William H. Foster.

Some literary giants wrote fishing-hunting stories

We can read and inherit the love of hunting from the late Jack O'Connor, whose books are steadily increasing in value. O'Connor has almost as many fans now as he did 50 years ago, and his skill at writing hunting stories was legendary. He was the real thing, and not a young wanna-be outdoor writer trying to sell his wares today.

Book catalogs that deal with fishing and hunting titles are wondrous things and I get a few every month.  Name the genre, and there are books out there to fit the wallet of every sportsman. Muskie fishing and turkey hunting are my two passions, and I spend time looking for those books on these topics that I don't have or simply can't afford.

I maintain lists of books I need. Some books are author signed, and many are not. Some books I need are low-priced and common and a few are expensive. Books allow people who can't afford a fishing or hunting trip to pour themselves into a good book and come out the other side knowing they've experienced something grand and wonderful while learning something they didn't know before.

Most of you know I buy and sell fishing and hunting books. I still read, everything from a cereal box to a mystery to a nonfiction fishing or hunting book. Some people don't know what they want, and they contact me and we discuss it by email.

Books are the gift that keeps on giving. Christmas is a long way off but a good book can be read over and over again, and instead of a goofy power tie for work, take Dad’s mind off work worries with a book on a topic of interest to him. Buying gifts now removes the panic that sets in if you forget to shop.

Forget TV; Books energize the mind; eMail me for help.

Take a look at my books on Scoop's Books.  On the Landing Page, scroll down and click on Scoop's Books Catalog, and take a look around.

If you need a specific title that isn't listed, email and ask if I have it. If you are thinking of selling fishing or hunting books, contact me. I buy books all the time, and you may have what I'm looking for, especially if it is on turkey hunting.

If you need help with a certain book purchase, contact me for assistance. Reading a good book may not be quite as exciting as actually catching a fish or taking a big buck with a bow, but when travel to do these things become almost cost-prohibitive in these economic doldrums, reading about fishing and hunting beats whatever else comes in second-best.